You are here:

Archaeology: bust of Alexander the Great found in Cyprus

(ANSAmed) - NICOSIA, APRIL 28 - Archaeologists in Cyprus
found a marble bust of Alexander the Great - considered one of
history's most successful commanders - in a second three-aisled
basilica that was brought to light on the site of Katalymmata
ton Plakoton, of the Akrotiri peninsula, as GreekReporter
website writes. Excavations by the Cyprus Antiquities Department
in the area have been in progress since 2007 when the first
basilica was revealed. It is believed that the two basilicas are
part of a monumental ecclesiastical complex which according to
Eleni Procopiou, an area officer for the Antiquities Department,
is related to St John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria, the
patron saint of Limassol. The first basilica is a burial
monument 36 meters in width and 29 meters in length. Procopiou
stated that the second basilica is also a burial monument 20
meters in width and 47 meters in length. It is estimated that
the findings date back to the second decade of the 7th century,
between 616-617 A.D. (ANSAmed).